"You do realize what you're asking of us, right?" Nabiki asked, her brow furrowing as she gave her father a hard look.
"Of course I do. There is no reason to not do this."
"Silly me. I thought that I had just given you some reasons."
"Yes, well, that might have been true if family honor didn't come into play," he reluctantly admitted. "But one could never respect our family if we let our promises go unfulfilled."
"Really."
"Yes, really."
She refrained from reminding him about how they were already loosing respect from some of the other clans. Of course, that might have even support his point. "What's the big deal anyway? I mean, I understand the 'family honor' thing, but just what will we really gain from doing something like that for someone else?"
"It's not that we would be 'owed' anything. It is the fact that we would be associated with two of the most important clans of the system."
"You don't mean that you would want to... ride their coat tails, would you?"
"That is putting a bad face on it, daughter."
"I'm not too certain that it's too far off. But you didn't deny it either," his daughter murmured to herself. "If you were planning on that, why didn't you just say so?"
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Still, it was what we promised to do. If we can do this, than we will have done our duty as a clan," the tall man commented, folding his arms over his chest as he nodded in time to his words.
"Just one thing."
"What is that?"
"Would you mind telling me how you think that we can manage to do this."
"What would be stopping us?"
"The army of maids? The fact that he's been been wanted by so many clans? That he's on a mission for the Emperor?"
"I don't mean that daughter," Soun stated, giving a small snort. "It is the simple fact that he is so desired and powerful that we need his... assistance in this. With that boy being such as he is, it's only natural for him to be the one for this agreement."
"You don't mean...."
"For a young man from such a good family, and trained in the warrior arts like he has been, anyone would try to get him for themselves."
'Perhaps Daddy really isn't as much of an idiot as I thought.'
"After all, it would be something that I would jump at the chance to get if I were given it. Though, if it were to happen.... Heh heh hah hahahahaha...."
"Then again, maybe he is just as he looks," she groaned, fighting the urge to cover her face with her hand. "Then, you're not going to change your mind, are you?"
"Absolutely not! This will not only bring glory to our clan, but will also connect two of the worlds of our system!"
"And if we can't manage this little escapade?"
"There is always marriage to another clan. I hear that the Kuno Heir is still looking to marry one of my daughters...."
The ninja made a choking sound in her throat. "You're kidding, right."
"He is a member of a noble house, and I would have three daughters to marry off. And we'd need all the associations that we could get."
That the Kuno family was one that didn't really have many proposals to connect with other clans was not mentioned. It was one of the unspoken truths of their society, as no one wanted to hear the long winded speeches that the members of that clan made when trying to defend themselves. But as the Kuno clan was basically made up of self important idiots who were too busy with their own egos to do much of anything, no one had much use for them in the first place. They were left alone for the most part, since they were less trouble that way. Because of their peculiar situation, they basically stayed at the position that they had always been. Most people simply did not want to have to bother them with petty things like 'reality', given what sort of people they were.
"There is one thing daughter."
"What is that?" Nabiki asked.
Her father put a hand on her shoulder. "If you were also to create a bond between our family and his, that would be most welcome."
"And how could I do that?"
"It wouldn't have to be you, but if a member of our family were to impress him so much that he'd want her to work for him...."
"Well, that's true enough...."
"And since you're girls, he might even want to have... make you... be very personal with him," the Tendo clan leader stammered out, almost as if he were reluctant to admit it to himself.
"Hold on a second...."
"In the past, there have been times when certain people have impressed higher nobles, to the point where their service is asked for. And a lot of times, being girls would mean that you would have to.... You would be...."
The image of herself laying on a futon, dressed only in fishnet stockings, an open top, and skimpy underwear as she waited for a certain boy came into Nabiki's mind, and one of her brows twitched. "If you mean for me to be totally submissive to him...."
"You would have to, if only to get the benefits...."
"Oh, right," the ninja admitted, cocking her head to the side. She would get a lot of bonuses if she went to work for the Saotome Heir, as would her sisters. Even if only one of them joined up, the other two would probably get some reflected fortune. Though, to tell the truth, the idea of being the concubine of someone like him wouldn't be all that bad of a fate, even if she would have to put her body at the beck and call of his desires. "Still... My name's not 'Mido'."
"I know that. It is Tendo, and remember that."
"I will."
"I'm glad. Since.... No matter if you have to.... You may have to.... But... You girls will always be by little baby darlings!" the grown man... bawled as he covered his eyes with one forearm and began to cry uncontrollably.
"He is such a headache sometimes.... Most of the time, actually," she said under her breath, while:
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